Justice S V Gangapurwala appointed as Acting Chief Justice of Bombay High Court – The Indian Express

This came after the Centre issued a notification for the elevation of Bombay High Court Chief Justice Dipankar Datta as a Supreme Court judge. Justice Datta, who was the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court for over the last two- and-a-half years, was sworn in as an apex Court judge Monday morning and the oath was administered to him by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud.

The President of India Droupadi Murmu on Sunday, as per powers conferred by Article 223 of the Constitution, appointed Justice Gangapurwala, who is the seniormost judge at the Bombay High Court, as the Acting Chief Justice after Justice Datta relinquished office.

Born on May 24, 1962, Justice Gangapurwala, after completing LLB, commenced his practice as a lawyer in 1985 and joined the chambers of advocate S N Loya, practised in trial court, high court and Debt Recovery Tribunal. He was an advocate for financial institutions such as Central Bank of India, Bombay Mercantile Cooperative Bank, Jalgaon Janata Sahakari Bank and other corporate bodies as well as Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University.

Justice Gangapurwala represented the government before Justice Mane Commission on the riots in Maharashtra in 1999.

A keen sportsman, he played lawn tennis at national level and represented Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University six times and captained it twice in all-India university tournament. He also played basketball at the state level. Justice Gangapurwala was an honorary part-time lecturer in M P Law College from 1991 till his elevation as additional judge of Bombay High Court on March 13, 2010.

With Justice Datta’s elevation as a Supreme Court judge, the Bombay High Court is currently functioning with 65 judges: 39 permanent judges and 26 additional judges. However, the sanctioned strength of the court, which is the second largest in the country after the Allahabad High Court, is 94.